New Labour and the House of Lords
There are some things that – in theory, anyway – not even New Labour should get wrong. The idea of that in a democracy, certain people get to make legislation simply on the basis of who their father was should be offensive to anybody who considers him or herself a democrat. It’s a no-brainer, really. [...]
The future of Trotskyism
The official slogan of Dave’s Part is ‘ex-punk, ex-Trot … unchanged attitude problem’. The words are trying to make a point in a lighthearted fashion. But they are trying to make a point, nonetheless. I am indeed an ex-Trot. I still believe in socialism from below. I still believe that Marxism is the only coherent [...]
Thank you, Harry’s Place
Dave’s Part has experienced a huge jump in readership after switching to this new website. That is in large part down to a favourable mention on the best-read British pro-war left blog, Harry’s Place. Thanks, comrade. Harry berates me for ‘refusing’ to link to him. But there is a backstory there. Only a few months [...]
Genocide in Darfur: blame the Zionist entity
How many people have died in the Sudanese government-sponsored genocide in Darfur? Most authoritative estimates put the number at 200,000 as a minimum. Many serious commentators believe that the real death toll could be double that again, putting the bloodshed in the same kind of slaughter premier league as Iraq. Wrong. Entirely wrong, insists Omar [...]
In defence of freedom of speech
Tim Toulmin – a director of the Press Complaints Commission – and former New Labour spindoctor in chief Alastair Campbell have both joined the chorus against the seemingly total freedom of speech currently enjoyed in the blogosphere. Toulmin in particular calls for a voluntary code of conduct to be observed by bloggers. I have to [...]
BAE, Mark Thatcher and al Yamamah
For the past two years, the al Yamamah contract – under which BAE Systems and its predecessor British Aerospace have supplied jet fighters to Saudi Arabia for more than two decades – has been the subject of a Serious Fraud Office investigation. Today the Financial Times reports that the Saudis have suspended negotiations over its [...]
The political death of Tommy Sheridan
Two news items from north of the border. According to the latest opinion polls, the Scottish Socialist Party might just emerge from the Sheridan fiasco and live to tell the tale. But that is more than can be said for Tommy himself: ‘The poll gives the SSP 3 per cent and 4 per cent on [...]
Althusser: the musical
Now playing at Paris’s Théâtre du Lucernaire until December 9: ‘Althusser, Solo’. A one-man performance starring Vincent Bady, based on the autobiography of the famous structuralist Marxist. Here’s a loose translation of the blurb: ‘A philosopher harks back on his life, his [intellectual] engagements, his ideological positions … with a lucidity without pathos, sometimes to [...]
Paying for the Labour leadership race
For a soi-disant expert on Labour Party finances, I’m embarrassed at having missed this nugget from the Evening Standard a couple of weeks back. It seems that party bosses are expecting all leader and deputy leader contenders to hand over a fairly hefty chunk of the funds they raise towards the costs of holding the [...]
New Labour, the SNP and Scottish independence
Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and now John Reid have all used their speeches to the Scottish Labour Party conference this weekend to wade into the Scottish National Party. Anybody would think that New Labour is frightened of something. Like getting its arse seriously kicked in the Scottish Assembly elections next year, for instance. It was [...]
